The Virginia Senate Race Just Became A Lot More Interesting

Former Republican Party chairman Ed Gillespie officially
announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat in Virginia on
Thursday, setting up a high-profile challenge with incumbent Sen.
Mark Warner (D).

Gillespie's introductory campaign video hinted at familiar themes in
2014 races. He blasted Warner for "out-of-control spending" and
for his support of the Affordable Care Act.

"I’m running for Senate because the American Dream is being
undermined by policies that move us away from constitutional
principles of limited government and personal liberty," Gillespie
said in the video.

Gillespie's entry turns Virginia, which was a safe Democratic
seat, into a competition. Larry Sabato, the University of
Virginia political scientist, shifted the race from "safe
Democratic" to "likely Democratic."

In many ways, Gillespie's entry into the race foreshadows a shift
from both parties' arguments and lines of attack in the 2013
gubernatorial election won by Democrat Terry McAuliffe. Like
McAuliffe, Gillespie's career has been in politics. Most
recently, he was a senior adviser to Mitt Romney's presidential
campaign. He also co-founded a bipartisan lobbying group, Quinn
Gillespie & Associates, with Jack Quinn, former Vice
President Al Gore's chief of staff.

Democrats previewed their line of attack immediately following
Gillespie's announcement.

"When Virginians get to know Ed Gillespie, they won't like
what they see," Matt Canter, a spokesman for the Democratic
Senatorial Campaign Committee, said in a statement. "The last
thing Virginians need in Washington is a career lobbyist with a
partisan history of slash-and-burn politics that divides
Virginians."

Early evidence suggests that Gillespie will have a huge hill to
climb to pull off the upset, however. Last July, Public Policy Polling found that Warner, the
state's former governor, enjoyed an approval-to-disapproval split
of 51-31. He wasn't tested against Gillespie, but he led the best
Republican candidates — House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and
then-Gov. Bob McDonnell — by 15 points.